Postings from resident directors and students currently abroad, important announcements and useful infomation for planning your study abroad experience.
Everyday during French class an outdoor concert is held in the courtyard of our school. If it were not enough that we get to study in a beautiful yellow stucco building in the center of Aix, we get serenaded by opera singers and lulled by string quartets, and energized by dramatic pianists each and every day. Today, in particular, I was blown away by this unreal experience of taking a French test to classical live music drifting in through our windows. You could really listen because everyone was silently working away. I think the music may have even helped us! Surely I will never get to recreate a learning environment that even remotely compares. Northwestern's lake-views have nothing on IFEE!
In other happenings, I've been enjoying the nightlife here a lot. Each night holds something entirely different! Tuesday I went out with Sara and AIU kids to an Irish pub for free champagne night (for ladies only of course). Wednesday I hung out with some school friends for a bit and then went to IPN for hip hop night. Last night was all planned out to be a fun night of tapas/sangria and then Hawaiin night at IPN but sadly no one quite rallied and it fizzled out; Of course it was still a fun night, but just not the one I had envisioned (and dressed to theme for!)
In the afternoons I have really enjoyed spending time with different people. Just yesterday I spent the entire afternoon at a gelato cafe with Adam where we attempted to study but instead could not stop talking long enough to breathe for the whole afternoon. I also just went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Wednesday when it just came out. Thankfully the French are not as into it as Americans are so we had an easy time getting in--especially because we went to the English showing. It was nice to be surrounded by Americana again just for a couple of hours. Later that night a few of us went out to a really good Vietnamese/Chinese/etc. fusion restaurant. It was nice because it was a bit of a hodgepodge of people but still ended up being a good time.
One of the things I love about being here is that with such a limited amount of time and the the kind of environment we are thrown into it is easy and fun and exciting to make a lot of friends with many different kinds of people. You don't get the usual cliqueiness that usually comes with most other social scenes and it is refreshing! It just feels freer in a way. And I guess that this sense of freedom and opportunity and excitement is really what has got me hooked on this place and this little slice of time this summer. I have decided I definitely want to study abroad senior year. This has just given me the tiniest taste and I want more! Now off to brainstorm and daydream about where to go!
posted on
Friday, July 13, 2007 9:54 AM